Normally a lapsus linguae is something you say when you want to say anything else.

"I met my sex." when you mean "I met my ex."

The two words are not always paronym...

"I told lies... heu... I told what I had to say."

Once at a biology course, during a presentation, a girl had to explain the phenomen of the excretion. At the end she said : "Now you know the phenomen of the erection." we were all laughing, even the teacher

I have read three pages of posts and see that some good points have been brought up. However, most of you have missed the main point. The question is NOT "Is pronunciation a waste of time?". The question is "Is the STUDY of pronunciation waste of time?". Until you can provide some SPECIFIC evidence that studying pronunciation brings real results, you will not have succeeded in presenting a winning argument. Do you know of a specific student or class, using a specific method of studying pronunciation, who overcame a real problem with pronunciation?

Consider this argument: "Studying pronunciation is a waste of time because students fail to make real progress, regardless of the method used. Students may say a word, phrase or sentence clearly in class, but when they must speak outside of class, they revert to using unclear pronuncation. The time spent on pronunciation would be much more effectively used on learning vocabulary and grammar."

As an English teacher and learner of French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese, I believe pronunciation CAN be learned. The question for all of you said pronuciation is important: HOW?

hello wrote:Although, I am very good in writing , I face many difficulties with the pronounciation...

Sometimes I cannot pronounce the word correctly which makes others doubt in the strength of my English language...

Po0o0o0o0or ME.....

Hello Mr. Hello! This is precisely what we should be discussing. Is it even possible to improve pronunciation by studying? If so, how? Or, on the other hand, do we have to accept the results we get "naturally"? As I said before, my teaching, as well as my experience learning French, Japanese, and Chinese, tells me it IS possible. Since this is a discussion board for students, I hope members will give their ideas on how to STUDY pronunciation. I'm sure they have some great success stories that will help you. After they have communicated their ideas, I will add my thoughts, if necessary.

I'm surprised nobody else has offered any tips yet. So many people have written that pronunciation is important, but they seem to have no idea how to actually improve it.

From your posts it is obvious you know a lot of English. At this point in your study, you not only have the problem of learning English pronunciation, you also have the problem of breaking bad habits formed after mispronouncing English for such a long time. It will not be as easy for you now as it would have been when you first started learning English. Here are some things I can suggest:

1) Listen to all kinds of English very CAREFULLY. Today's dictionaries with voice recordings are not too bad, but single words won't help you very much. You have to listen to a variety of voices and a variety of word combinations, as well as sentences and paragraphs.

2) Repeat what you listen to over and over again. Try to imitate native English pronunciation as closely as possible. Native English speaking TV and radio announcers do this, so don't think it's too basic for your English level. In my classes, I have students pretend that they are on the radio, saying sentences just like the professionals. It's not only effective, it's also quite fun!

3) Try recording your voice while reading whole paragraphs, then compare with the native English speakers on CD or tape. Be sure to do this once today so that you can see your progress over time.

4) Try to identify your weak points - which vowels and consonants are hardest for you to pronounce? Put extra emphasis on those sounds. You may also have trouble with groups of consonants or vowel combinations. English rhythm is sometimes a problem for students, so pay attention the this, too, as you listen.

5) Since you're trying to break old habits, you are going to have to FOCUS. Practice several times a day every single day for as long as you need. I think you can see some improvement in a few weeks, though it will probably take longer to reach the level you really want.

I'll try my best to follow your tips. You know what ? there is another problem I face other than pronounciation and especially at the university...

I hasitate a lot before speaking in English.. I feel very shy and very low self esteem ... I feel that I might make mistakes whenever I speak in English .... When I speak, I speak very quickly and finish my sentence ... So, I don't take my time in speaking or explaining my point of view...

Many times happen that I know the words and I have enough vocabulary to parcticipate during the class, but I see my mouth locked and cannot say any word...

hello wrote: there is another problem I face other than pronounciation and especially at the university...

I hasitate a lot before speaking in English.. I feel very shy and very low self esteem ... I feel that I might make mistakes whenever I speak in English .... When I speak, I speak very quickly and finish my sentence ... So, I don't take my time in speaking or explaining my point of view...

It seems you have two different problems, but in fact, they may be the same. The reason you hesitate may be because you know your pronunciation is not as good as your grammar, vocabulary or writing. Please follow the suggestions I made in my previous post and see if you don't speak more smoothly in the future. As you speak more smoothly with fewer problems, you will gain confidence little by little.

Of course, along the way, you will have to make some mistakes. Mistakes are not really a problem IF you learn from them. As Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, said: "The key to success is to double your failure rate". Each time you make a mistake in speaking is an opportunity for you to improve. Good luck!

I just thought I would add and example that my young daughter is using through a tutor.

She comes from an English speaking family; but reading english is something you need to learn. Here is the example that was given to her, and I think you might find it really useful.

My daughter was given one page from a book with a graph. In this graph you are given (for example) 200 words that you have to read out loud to someone (or even yourself) but the trick is that you have to read it out loud. You have to time yourself (so you need to set a clock for 1 minute). At the end of the minute you add up the words that you have read and how many mistakes you have made. You work out how many words a minute you can read.

You really need to graph this because each day you will improve. You will find that after one week you may have gone from (80-120 words). It is all about increasing your confidence.

Please keep in mind that it has to be the same text. The same page of a book etc. Also you have to remember that you need to read this out loud. Preferrably to someone else.

Just try this exercise for two or three weeks and see how much your confidence rises.

First of all, i want to thank teacher Joe for the tips and advice taht he gave to hello and i want to thank hello for posting her problem, which is the same problem that i suffer from. so i am really thankful for both of you.

regarding to the topic, i belive that studying pronunciation is important and not wasting time at all, because it help us to understand english speakers verywell and communicate with them in a good way and help us to be undrestood from the english speakers side as well.

Pronunciation is one of the important thing in learning
language. When i studied at school, my non-native teacher used to teach us with bizarre accent, therefore
i didn't respect his subject.
I always wanted to say her : " If you going to teach us
english, then, go and learn good pronunciation first! "

I think that pronunciation is important but, if the people understand you , you dont need pronunciation , however , if you r going to speak about one toinc in front of people , you need good pronunciation

Firstly, we should regconize the difference beetween "accent" and "pronunciation".
One word can be read with many accents but only one way to pronunciate.It's like Vietnamese such as "nấu cơm" and "lấu cơm". Obviously, we can understand "lấu cơm" but it's the wrong pronunciation.
Thus, pronunciation is very important and we should spend your time in improving our pronuncistion.

Your grammar can be good as well as your vocabulary but if you don´t have good pronunciation, you won´t be understood by native speakers. Native speakers learn English in this order.....1) 1st by hearing, 2) then speaking, 3)then grammar and writing